The other day here, in a kind of negative defense of the Miss California who came out against gay marriage, I said "Carrie Prejean may be a right-wing bigot." I was basing that as much on some of her recent interviews as what she said at the pageant. Apparently now, she's telling interviewers that when she was asked about the topic at the beauty contest, that was Satan tempting her.
In the last twenty-four hours, I've received a dozen nearly-identical messages. In fact, five were verbatim, including the same typo, and were apparently cut-and-pasted from the same source. Here, from Gary Sobel, is one of the messages that at least put the argument slightly into his own words…
You called Carrie Prejean a "right-wing bigot" for her statement in the beauty pageant that said, "In my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."
The President you voted for said, "I'm a Christian. And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue…my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman."
So in your view, is Barack Obama a right-wing bigot?
Obviously not…since just about everything about him seems to enrage people even you'd agree were right-wing bigots. But no, I don't think just opposing gay marriage makes someone a right-wing bigot.
I was disappointed in Obama when he said that, even though his phrasing left a fair amount of wiggle room. I was disappointed because I don't think he believes that…though in an encouraging sign, I saw an awful lot of Conservative pundits (here's one) try to argue that he was lying about his position or "flip-flopping" to get votes. So one difference between Ms. Prejean and Mr. Obama is that the latter does have some history of supporting gay rights, opposing Proposition 8 and pledging to repeal "Don't ask, don't tell." And of course, that means a lot coming from him since unlike Miss California, he's in a position to actually change laws and policies. Barack Obama might do a lot for those folks, in spite of that statement. Miss California won't.
Sadly perhaps, I am cynical enough about politics to not believe everything said or promised by any politician, including the ones for whom I wind up voting. The only possible exceptions are guys who are never going to get within twenty furlongs of getting elected…like, I suppose Alan Keyes believes every word he utters. The fact that he has about the same shot at the presidency as I do may suggest why we don't have more candid candidates. You can't get elected that way. I wish you could.